Eloquent Users Meet in Austin, Texas

A group of Eloquent Customers, in Austin for the SAA Conference, met over a 3-hour lunch to network and to discuss topics of common interest.

Vancouver, BC – August 15, 2009 – A group of Eloquent Users met for several hours during the Society for American Archivists Conference in Austin, Texas on Saturday, August 15, 2009. They originated from California to the Caribbean, all using Eloquent Archives™ and in addition some use Eloquent Museum™ and Eloquent Records™. User’s systems range from secure firewalls with no public access to secure and carefree SaaS hosting by Eloquent. They all report a positive experience with the Web-based software and some users were comparing it to the “old days” with DOS GENCAT and the fly-in consultant.

Eloquent Progressive Search
Merv Richter, President of Eloquent Systems, demonstrated the latest release of the Eloquent Search Engine, developed with the latest in browser technology and designed to unleash the complete power of WebGENCAT technology. All Eloquent applications use the same search engine, but the hierarchical structure required by archives descriptive standards present a unique opportunity to showcase the power.

The general impression from the group was very positive. All users agreed that the initial Keyword search alone or combined with one or two other access points on the first window are intuitive enough for an Internet-savvy “off the street” user. They could easily navigate the results for related information. The results are presented along with clear documentation to describe the unique organization of descriptive records. However, only the more experienced researchers would immediately take advantage of the structure. Others could learn if they have the patience to follow online help messages.

Most public users would be satisfied without using the Advanced Search, while experienced researchers would relish the ability to progress into greater precision. There was some discussion about the ease of straight-line Boolean logic versus the more powerful nesting capability. Some users at the meeting offered to solicit public feedback from their research rooms and forward suggestions to Eloquent.

The new progressive search will be available free when Eloquent customers upgrade their application to the next version. They will be able to do most of their own custom tailoring. Only systems already highly customized would require consulting services from Eloquent.

Contributing to Library Catalogue
Several options for migrating the top-level (collection/fonds/record group) records to the library catalogue were discussed: EAD export, MARC export, and subject harvesting. In all cases, a search of the library would offer a seamless navigation into Eloquent for the lower levels and the digital content.

Indexing by Google and other Search Engines
The process of publishing an HTML index of 3 or 4 levels for hosting anywhere on the Internet was discussed. The index is an intuitive tree structure that can be expanded as desired by the public. Seamless links into the dynamic Eloquent database are provided at every level for more detail and digital content. This index exposes key words for every descriptive record to the search engines, so anyone searching the Internet may be directed to the database. Like websites the index is static; however routines can be set up for automatic re-publishing on a weekly basis.

HTML Publication of Complete Collections
One customer gave described her successful experience with the HTML Publisher for a few of her collections. The process offered extensive custom tailoring and a simple one-click process for publishing. She prefers it to the EAD publication.

WebGENCAT Development Toolkit
One user expressed her frustration with the lack of a printed manual for the WebGENCAT Toolkit. She seldom uses it, but when she does she depends on the Eloquent Help Desk for assistance. Richter explained that her experience was not unusual. The Toolkit is not designed for a casual user. It is a very powerful and complex system. The online help along with the opportunity to reverse engineer the existing application has proven adequate for most frequent users – people with systems experience and the time to become proficient. Just like MS Excel; many people use it, but very few take the time to learn how to build complex systems with it.

A Wiki for Eloquent Users
Several users expressed a desire for a social network option for Eloquent; a place for asking questions, sharing experiences and storing useful technical documentation from the Help Desk. It would have to be easy to use, changing frequently and restricted to members only. No one had any industry experience to share or systems to use as examples. Richter committed to having his technical people look into a solution. Everyone else committed to become active users.

Merv Richter was very pleased with the success of the group meeting and welcomes opportunities to join any group of users that may assemble in the future.